[GraemeA]

Thanks Tom. Good info, but I'm really going to need a card.  Been leaning toward Lloyds....

Lloyd's on-line banking is pretty shit Ben.

[Monolith]

Back on this quest to set another business account up. Triodos are great for simple BACS payments but I need something that will give me a card for this other entity.

Ben, did you run with Lloyds in the end? I really wish this was a simple choice to make!

[Mike Highbury]

Lloyd's on-line banking is pretty shit Ben.

Is it? Works for me but must say that they recently starting charging £5/month, which irritated me no end after 20 years of free banking.

[Falling Down]

Hi Tom,

Yes I did.   It's been fine so far.  The phone App does everything I need and the online service is OK.  You get two accounts so you can use one for savings/set asides for CT and VAT,  it's easy to transfer money in and out and you can download all the statements for accounting purposes.  I do have a very simple business though.

[Monolith]

Hi Tom,

Yes I did.   It's been fine so far.  The phone App does everything I need and the online service is OK.  You get two accounts so you can use one for savings/set asides for CT and VAT,  it's easy to transfer money in and out and you can download all the statements for accounting purposes.  I do have a very simple business though.

Thanks Ben. I'm with them for personal banking but know little of their business offer. It's a veritable minefield!

[T_B]

Any recent feedback on business accounts? Ben, how has Lloyds been? Mrs T_B needs to set up a business account. She does everything on an IPhone, so easy on-line banking is a must, as well as good intro-offer/low fees as she's only small.

[Johnny Brown]

We use HSBC which has the benefit of being free but both local branches have closed and the online banking is poor - needs a dongle to login, crashes etc. I haven't used the app.

My photography account is with Natwest who have at least kept Hunter's bar open. Costs £5 a month but online and app both excellent. I had a couple of fraudulent transactions over the summer and the service was impressively good.

A few access types I know use Santander as they do a free web only account.

If you lean towards the bank you have a personal account with check the business app is either different or can access both. You can't have two apps on either the same device or two different devices with the same apple/google account.

[T_B]

Good knowledge JB, especially that last bit. Thanks.

[remus]

We use HSBC which has the benefit of being free but both local branches have closed and the online banking is poor - needs a dongle to login, crashes etc. I haven't used the app.

If it's anything like the personal banking app then it's pretty log.

[Monolith]

I haven't had a single problem with Triodos in nearly four years of banking. To the contrary, they have been very friendly to deal with.

You do have to have a pinpad to login and I'm not sure if they have an app yet. Their charges are pennies rather than pounds (extremely low) and it's good to know these charges contribute towards some good projects.

A big downside is that they don't offer a debit card.

https://www.triodos.co.uk/en/business/

[dave]

I've only got a personal account but the Lloyds iphone app is great. Can log in with fingerprint, setup recipients without a fuss. And the online banking don't need any other shit like pinpads or whatever to use - setting up any recipients you authenticate by text or automated phonecall.

We also have a Smile aka Co-op account, because back in the eraly 2000s they were one of the firs with online banking. However these days the iphone app is poor, almost no functionality, and the web version is to be honest rubbish.

[T_B]

Yeah my personal banking is with Smile for the same reason. At some point I will switch to First Direct.

A decent app is essential given Mrs T_B is rarely sat at a desktop.

[Johnny Brown]

Any recent experiences on this? After a last-straw letter from HSBC saying they were closing our account I was keen to go to Natwest, but it turns out they only do business banking by phone now. I hate phones.

[gme]

We are with Natwest and have been for 15 years. No complaints at all with them and they are happy to come to the office if we need them.Online stuff is easy and rarely have to phone.

I also have a Lloyds business account for a fundraising thing i am involved with that seems easy to operate online, although i had a bit of an arse around getting it all set up.

Only went to lloyds as they had a branch in Alnwick, unlike Natwest, and i need to pay in cash quite often. None of my businesses ever see cash so never have a need to go to the bank, can only see this getting more prevalent.

[Monolith]

Any recent experiences on this? After a last-straw letter from HSBC saying they were closing our account I was keen to go to Natwest, but it turns out they only do business banking by phone now. I hate phones.

Still a big fan of Triodos, they're very good. I've learnt that they're currently looking at the provision of a debit card at last. I'd argue that it's a no brainer to bank with them once this is implemented. I'll try to update this thread once it lands....

[GraemeA]

I was keen to go to Natwest, but it turns out they only do business banking by phone now. I hate phones.

Not sure what you mean by this, we are with Natwest and I have rarely had to do any business banking by phone, I take cash to the bank, get change from the bank, do most payments and transfers on line. Occasionally I have to pay cheques in (from schools) or write a cheque (eg for skips).

I think the only time I have had to call them was when we had a couple of dodgy DD's set up and when we needed our credit card limit increased.

It's a pain they shut Millhouses and Woodseats branches but other banks are hard to  come by, nearest Lloyds or HSBC is ???, Barclays is at Meadowhead and TSB in Woodseats.

[Johnny Brown]

Thanks guys, I'll probably go with Natwest as my personal experience has been very good and we cant wait for debit cards.

Did you manage to build a relationship with the new manager Gav?

Graeme, I walked into both the Hunter's bar and city centre branches and asked for an appointment to discuss moving our business account to them. In both got a vacuous stare and 'sorry love we don't do that in this branch any more, have you tried ringing?' Well no, that's why I'm here. Ah well...

[gme]

We just have a new contact as our old one Andy Predergast, who was great, has been moved to another bit of the bank. New guy is Kevin Burrows who seems OK but haven't known him long enough to give full opinion.

I have always been a believer in sticking with suppliers as long as you can and if i am not happy getting them to change rather than jumping ship to another. Been with two banks in 20 years and only left HSBC as they properly let us down with funding the one time we needed it.

I have never looked at anything other than the big boys regards banks as i only look at them on a purely practical basis rather than ethics, politics etc. They dont seem to charge a lot for what they do on a day to day basis so cant see moving about being worth the effort.

[GraemeA]

Thanks guys, I'll probably go with Natwest as my personal experience has been very good and we cant wait for debit cards.

Did you manage to build a relationship with the new manager Gav?

Graeme, I walked into both the Hunter's bar and city centre branches and asked for an appointment to discuss moving our business account to them. In both got a vacuous stare and 'sorry love we don't do that in this branch any more, have you tried ringing?' Well no, that's why I'm here. Ah well...

I opened a new account for a new business a few months ago, I think everything was on-line. Our new manager seems fine, maybe drop him a line saying I gave you his details Jonathan.Plumtree@natwest.com

[Johnny Brown]

Thanks Graeme, I'll drop him a line. Now I've copied his email it might be an idea to delete his email before the poor bugger gets spammed to death.

[GraemeA]

Too late but if any mods feel they can be bothered, feel free

[chris j]

Thread resurrection...

Has anyone used Starling bank for business banking?

I have a UK current and Euro currency account with BOS at present. I haven't used the Euro account for a few years and they have changed their online system so I need to register for the new system (which is aimed at corporations rather than 1 man ltds like me) to access it again. Trying to do this (I need to actually talk to someone) is sapping my will to live and making me seriously look at alternatives.

So, is anyone out there with Starling? A quick search makes it look like they do what I need, there's a lot of positive reviews but some personal experience would be useful. Or anyone else who will do a UK current and a Euro account without driving me round the bend trying to set the thing up.

[Monolith]

I am Chris. I recently set an account up with them as my secondary business bank account (Triodos is my main). I'll probably come to use it exclusively if Triodos don't soon pull their finger out and create a business debit/credit card.

Without yet conducting any transactions, I think the app seems great, the customer service is exemplary and overall fit for my purposes at present.

[remus]

I use their business account, though only lightly. I was a bit tricky getting setup as we were trying to set it up at the same time as starting the rest of the business so ended up in a bit of a catch 22 with our accountant and the bank. Shouldn't be a problem if you're already established.

The app seems good, nice being able to upload receipts/invoices for stuff directly against transactions as means you don't need to keep track of thousands of bits of paper.

[tomtom]

I’ve two starling accounts - both personal. One mine one a joint AC that is exclusively for building work we’re having done. 

Works great. Set up simple etc... the app interface isn’t as good as some or straightforward to see ins and outs - but works fine. ID validation (done be a person I’d assume) is pretty fast - no complaints so far but we’ve done nothing more complicated than deposit a load of money and gradually spend it.